And no wonder for the hardened shame that sagged his posture. He had failed her.
“But—you were there for weeks, right?” I asked, my voice frantic and fast as I straightened. “Did you see my family? My mother and sister—a fire affinity, about fifty and eleven summers old. Bright scarlet hair—”
“Sylvia, calm down, you’re barely breathing,” Zia cut in, taking my hands and urging me back down. “If you keep up, you’ll fall unconscious again.”
“Perhaps that will be a blessing for her,” Rowan muttered.
“Please, you must have seen them!” I said, voice rising.
Vaguely, I noticed the men outside turning their heads at my outburst—Eros and Rhett looking on curiously. Cliff finally acknowledged my existence, eyes sliding to me.
I should have taken the opportunity to appeal to him while I could, but I remained pleadingly fixated on Zia. My hands shook as I gripped hers, begging for her to recall that she saw aredheaded woman and her daughter flying off in escape before they could be rounded up.
But Zia shook her head. “I don’t know. There were many fairies in Aelthorin.” Her voice caught as she blinked hard. “So many,” she said, softer. She shut her eyes for a moment, as though witnessing the heavy losses and captures all over again. “I’m so sorry, Sylvia, but I can’t help you with this.”
I ripped my hands away from her, my head throbbing with panic and anger. Storming toward the glass wall nearest to Cliff, I noticed that even Ben had stopped his mindless pacing to observe me. His expression was mostly blank, but the slightest drop of pity in his eyes told me he’d been listening. I had to stop falling apart. I was supposed to be the brave one, the willing sacrifice, but all of that was locked far away from me now.
My voice cracked as I called out to Cliff. “Did you hear what she said? She was in Aelthorin! It.. It’s gone! Raided.” I slammed my hands against the glass, almost relishing the sharp sting of pain. I imagined striking him, knocking some sense into him. “My family, Cliff… Myfamily.”
I sniffled pathetically and wiped my face, only to find that Cliff was pointedly looking away again, a tick in his jaw.There. Something. He was feelingsomething, but he was fighting it. That hardly inspired hope for my own sake. He was still choosing his father and all of this power over me. I dropped my forehead against the glass and balled my hands into fists.
One of the armored guards had his head turned blatantly toward me. My skin crawled as I felt his eyes upon me. Even with the mirrored visor in his helmet obscuring his face from view, I felt the prickle of his attention lingering on me.
“Fuck you,” I mouthed to him. He was certainly staring hard enough to catch it, but he didn’t react.
I felt like a monster being studied. Is this what my life was about to become? Observation. Experimentation.
The same would undoubtedly happen to Mother and Hazel if Eros’ men had captured them at Aelthorin.
A terrible vision struck me: the two of them huddled together, then forcibly separated. Mother would viciously fight back, but her fire would be subdued. She would have nothing but curses and promises that she would find everyone responsible and reduce them to ash. But in the meantime, Hazel would be screaming and crying as she was wrenched away by uncaring hands. Fragile and forced into a nightmarish existence.
I sank to my knees, not because I couldn’t support myself but because I had exhausted all other ways of begging.
“Cliff,” I said, my voice wavering and bearing none of its vicious bite. “Please. Save them, at least. Sacrificemeto this cause if you must. I did this to myself. I…I know that. But my mother and Hazel? They’re innocent, and it’s my fault they’re in this mess.” I pressed my open palms to the glass beseechingly. “Find them and let them go. Please,please.”
Slowly, Cliff straightened and crossed the interior of the truck to reach our prison. He set his hand against the glass—and for one heartbeat, I thought he was reaching for the elaborate latch that would unseal the top hatch.
“Stand up,” he said. “You look pathetic.”
Rhett sucked in through his teeth, obviously relishing my distress. “Cold, even for you, Everett.”
“What’ll happen to these ones?” Cliff asked, tapping the case.
“All adept healers are promised to Price,” Eros said. “Their talents are expected to give him the edge he needs to complete the project. I’m not blind to his agenda. He’s trying to save his kid. I can sympathize with that. In exchange for funds, labs, and regenerative creatures, he has agreed to share all proprietary research with Evercor, including patents.”
“You’re rounding up more than healers,” Cliff pointed out.
“Any of these beasts with regenerative abilities are beneficial to his study. And the usefulness of these creatures goes far beyond the medical world. The others will be evaluated to find where their abilities can be best harnessed.”
“Sold off to those cocksuckers at the gala?” Cliff asked.
His father waved a hand. “That’s trivial. Government contracts are a secondary aspect we’re looking into.”
A low growl came from Rowan. Whoever would be charged with separating him from Zia was in for an unpleasant time. And Ben… Poor Ben. He’d already lived through the harnessing of his glamour, and now he’d be plunged back into that nightmare.
“All this fuss for some lab rats,” Cliff hummed.
“Does it bother you?” Rhett needled. “I mean, it can’t be easy to have your personal healer snatched away.”
